Francis Schaeffer

Francis A Schaeffer (January 30, 1912–May 15, 1984), an American Evangelical theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor, is most famous for his writings and his establishment of the L'Abri community in Switzerland. Opposed to theological modernism, Schaeffer promoted an orthodox Protestant faith and a presuppositional approach to Christian apologetics, which he believed would answer the questions of the age. Dr. Schaeffer is also the father of the successful author Frank Schaeffer. Image File history File links Promophoto of Francis Schaeffer from this site. ... January 30 is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The word evangelicalism usually refers to a tendency in diverse branches of conservative Christianity, typified by an emphasis on evangelism, a personal experience of conversion, biblically-oriented faith, and a belief in the relevance of Christian faith to cultural issues. ... Theology (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason) means reasoned discourse concerning religion, spirituality and God. ... Christian philosophy is a catch-all expression for a two-millennia tradition of rational thought that attempts to fuse the fields of philosophy with the religious teachings of Christianity. ... The Bible Presbyterian Church was formed in 1939-1940, predominantly through the efforts of conservative Presbyterian clergyman Carl McIntire. ... LAbri (from the French word meaning shelter) is an evangelical Christian organization founded by Francis Schaeffer and his wife Edith in Huemoz, Switzerland on June 5, 1955. ... Modernism, modernist Christianity, and liberalism are labels applied to proponents of a school of Christian thought which rose as a direct challenge to more conservative traditional Christian orthodoxy. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Presuppositional apologetics is a school of Christian apologetics, a field of Christian theology that attempts to (1) present a rational basis for the Christian faith, (2) defend the faith against objections, and (3) attack the alleged flaws of other worldviews. ... Christian Apologetics is the field of study concerned with the systematic defense of Christianity. ...

Education and Early Career

Schaeffer grew up in Germantown, Pennsylvania. In 1935 he graduated from Hampden-Sydney College, magna cum laude. The same year he married Edith Seville, the daughter of missionary parents who had been with China Inland Mission founded by Hudson Taylor. Schaeffer then enrolled at Westminster Theological Seminary in the fall and studied under Cornelius Van Til (presuppositional apologetics) and J. Gresham Machen (doctrine of inerrancy). In 1937 he transferred to Faith Theological Seminary and graduated in 1938. This seminary was newly formed as a result of a split in the Presbyterian Church of America (now the Orthodox Presbyterian Church) and the Bible Presbyterian Church, a Presbyterian denomination more identified with Fundamentalist Christianity and premillennialism. Schaeffer was the first student to graduate and the first to be ordained in the Bible Presbyterian Church and served in pastorates in Pennsylvania (Grove City and Chester) and St. Louis, Missouri. In 1948 the Schaeffer family moved to Switzerland and in 1955 established the community called L'Abri (French for "the shelter"). ^{[1] [2]} Germantown was originally the Borough of Germantown, a town in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania and is today primarily a neighborhood in Philadelphia, about six miles northwest from the center of the city. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Hampden-Sydney College is a liberal arts college for men located in Hampden-Sydney, Virginia. ... Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. ... A missionary is a propagator of religion, often an evangelist or other representative of a religious community who works among those outside of that community. ... The China Inland Mission was a missionary society, set up by English missionary Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865 in Brighton during a home leave. ... Hudson Taylor. ... Westminster Theological Seminary is a Reformed Christian graduate educational institution with campuses located in Pennsylvania, and Texas and programs of study in New York City, London, and Seoul. ... Cornelius Van Til Cornelius Van Til (May 4, 1895 - April 17, 1987), born in Grootegast, the Netherlands, was a Christian philosopher, Reformed theologian, and presuppositional apologist. ... Presuppositional apologetics is a school of Christian apologetics, a field of Christian theology that attempts to (1) present a rational basis for the Christian faith, (2) defend the faith against objections, and (3) attack the alleged flaws of other worldviews. ... John Gresham Machen (1881-1937) was an influential American Presbyterian theologian in the early 20th century. ... Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible is without error. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Along with Westminster Theological Seminary, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) was founded by conservative Presbyterians who revolted against the modernist theology within the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) during the 1930s. ... The Bible Presbyterian Church was formed in 1939-1940, predominantly through the efforts of conservative Presbyterian clergyman Carl McIntire. ... Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ... This article concerns the self-labeled Fundamentalist Movement in Protestant Christianity. ... This article specifically relates to Premillennialism in Christian eschatology; for political millenarianism and other uses of the word see Millenarianism Premillennialism in Christian eschatology is the interpretation of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation in the Bible which sees Christs second coming as occurring before or pre- his... Official language(s) None Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area  Ranked 33rd  - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 km²)  - Width 160 miles (255 km)  - Length 280 miles (455 km)  - % water 2. ... Grove City is a borough located in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. ... Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, population 36,854 at the 2000 census. ... Nickname: Gateway City, Gateway to the West, or Mound City Location in the state of Missouri Coordinates: Country State County United States Missouri Independent City Mayor Francis G. Slay (D) Area    - City 66. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1954 Schaeffer was awarded the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Highland College in Long Beach, California. 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Doctor of Divinity (D.D., Divinitatis Doctor in Latin) is an academic degree. ... Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: Government Country State County United States California Los Angeles County Mayor Bob Foster Geographical characteristics Area 170. ...

In 1971 Dr. Schaeffer received the honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... A Doctor of Letters is a university academic degree. ... Gordon College is a private, 4-year liberal arts college in Wenham, Massachusetts. ... Wenham is a town located in Essex County, Massachusetts. ...

In 1982 John Warwick Montgomery nominated Schaeffer for an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, which was conferred in 1983 by the Simon Greenleaf School of Law, Anaheim, California, in recognition of his apologetic writings and ministry. ^[3] 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... John Warwick Montgomery was born October 18, 1931 in Warsaw, New York. ... Doctor of Laws (Latin: Legum Doctor, LL.D) is a doctorate-level academic degree in law. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Flag Seal Location Location within Orange County, California Government Country State County United States California Orange Mayor Curt Pringle Geographical characteristics Area     City 50. ...

Apologetics

Schaeffer's approach to cultural apologetics was primarily influenced by Herman Dooyeweerd, Edward John Carnell, and Cornelius Van Til. He is generally understood to be a "combinationalist" ^{[citation needed]} or "verificationist" ^{[citation needed]} in apologetics rather than a strict presuppositionalist in the Van Tillian tradition. The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... Apologetics is the field of study concerned with the systematic defense of a position. ... Herman Dooyeweerd Herman Dooyeweerd (1894-1977) was a Dutch juridical scholar by training, who by vocation was a philosopher, and the founder of a new approach called, the philosophy of the cosmonomic idea. ... Edward John Carnell (1919-1967) was a prominent Christian theologian and apologist, was an ordained Baptist pastor, and served as President of Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. ... Cornelius Van Til Cornelius Van Til (May 4, 1895 - April 17, 1987), born in Grootegast, the Netherlands, was a Christian philosopher, Reformed theologian, and presuppositional apologist. ... Note: This short article describes the specific history and ideas of the early verificationists. ... Apologetics is the field of study concerned with the systematic defense of a position. ...

In a 1948 article in The Bible Today Schaeffer explained his own apologetics and how he walked a middle path between evidentialism and presuppositionalism. ^[4] J. Budziszewski summarizes the article about this middle path approach by writing: Evidentialism is a theory of justification according to which believing proposition p is justified for some agent S at time t iff S s total evidence at t supports p; that, in short, the justified attitude toward a proposition, be it belief, disbelief, or suspension of judgment, is the one...

Presuppositionalists, he held, are right to assert that the ultimate premises of Christian and anti–Christian systems of thought are utterly at odds. On the other hand, evidentialists are right to assert that between Christian and anti–Christian systems of thought there is always a point of contact. The reason for this point of contact, he argued, is that nonbelievers cannot bring themselves to be completely consistent with their own presuppositions, and this inconsistency is a result of common grace. "Thus, illogically," he wrote, "men have in their accepted worldviews various amounts of that which is ours. But, illogical though it may be, it is there and we can appeal to it." ^[5]

Schaeffer came to use this middle path as the basis for his method of evangelism which he called Taking the roof off. ^[6] An example of Taking the roof off in written form can be found in Schaeffer's work entitled Death in the City. ^[7] A world view, also spelled as worldview is a term calqued from the German word Weltanschauung (look onto the world). The German word is also in wide use in English, as well as the translated form world outlook. ...

Legacy

Today, more than twenty years after his death, his teachings continue in the same informal setting at The Francis A. Schaeffer Foundation in Gryon, Switzerland. It is led by one of his daughters and sons-in-law as a small scale alternative to the original L'Abri Fellowship International which is still operating in nearby Huemoz-sur-Ollon and other places in the world. Covenant Theological Seminary also has established the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute directed by a former English L'Abri member. The purpose of the school is to train Christians to demonstrate compassionately and defend reasonably what they see as the claims of Christ on all of life. ^[8] Gryon is a commune in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, located in the district of Aigle. ... Ollon is a municipality in the district of Aigle of the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. ... Covenant Theological Seminary is the denominational seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). ... Ûæ:For the Doctor Who character, see Compassion (Doctor Who). ... Reason is a term used in philosophy and other human sciences to refer to the faculty of the human mind that creates and operates with abstract concepts. ... Jesus (8–2 BC/BCE — 29–36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. ...

Schaeffer and the Christian Right

Schaeffer is credited with helping spark a return to political activism among Protestant evangelicals and fundamentalists in the late 1970s and early 1980s, especially around the issue of abortion. By popularizing, in the modern context, a conservative Puritan and Reformed perspective, he is considered by some critics to be the godfather of contemporary Dominionism.^{[citation needed]} Schaeffer argued that Christians have a duty to "live Christianly" in every area of life and to challenge encroaching secular humanism. Christian Right leaders such as Tim LaHaye have credited Schaeffer for influencing their theological arguments urging political participation by evangelicals (LaHaye, Battle, p. 5). But it is possible that LaHaye and others who cite Schaeffer's influence are extending their ideas well beyond what Schaeffer himself suggested. The word evangelicalism usually refers to a tendency in diverse branches of conservative Christianity, typified by an emphasis on evangelism, a personal experience of conversion, biblically-oriented faith, and a belief in the relevance of Christian faith to cultural issues. ... In comparative religion, fundamentalism has come to refer to several different understandings of religious thought and practice, through literal interpretation of religious texts such as the Bible or the Quran and sometimes also anti-modernist movements in various religions. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive, informally sometimes including the years 1979, 1990 and 1991. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Calvinism is a system of Christian theology and an approach to Christian life and thought, articulated by John Calvin, a Protestant Reformer in the 16th century, and subsequently by successors, associates, followers and admirers of Calvin and his interpretation of Scripture. ... Dominionism is a trend in Protestant Christian evangelicalism and fundamentalism, primarily, though not exclusively, in the United States, that seeks to establish specific political policies based on religious beliefs. ... Secular humanism is a humanist philosophy that upholds reason, ethics, and justice and specifically rejects rituals and ceremonies as a means to affirm a life stance. ... The Christian right is a term collectively referring to a spectrum of right-wing Christian political and social movements and organizations characterized by their strong support of social values they deem traditional in western countries. ... Timothy F. LaHaye (b. ... Politics is a process by which decisions are made within groups. ...

Irving Hexham of the University of Calgary, for example, argues that Schaeffer's political position has been misconstrued as advocating the Dominionist views of R. J. Rushdoony, who is a Reconstructionist. Hexham indicates that Schaeffer's essential philosophy was derived from Herman Dooyeweerd, not Rushdoony, and that Hans Rookmaaker introduced Schaeffer to his writings. ^[9] Dooyeweerd was not a Dominionist or Reconstructionist. Rushdoony, although another admirer of Dooyeweerd, rejected the pluralist implications of his philosophy. Irving Hexham (April 14, 1943) is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. ... It has been suggested that University of Calgary Faculty of Law be merged into this article or section. ... Rousas John Rushdoony (25 April 1916–8 February 2001) was the seminal leader of the Christian Reconstructionist theology in the United States. ... Christian Reconstructionism is a highly controversial religious and theological movement within Protestant Christianity. ... Herman Dooyeweerd Herman Dooyeweerd (1894-1977) was a Dutch juridical scholar by training, who by vocation was a philosopher, and the founder of a new approach called, the philosophy of the cosmonomic idea. ... Henderik Roelof Hans Rookmaaker (February 27, 1922–March 13, 1977) was a Dutch Christian scholar, professor, and author who wrote and lectured on art theory, art history, music, philosophy, and religion. ...

Indeed, the arts and cultural program of Schaeffer's L'Abri, and particularly his association with Rookmaaker, sits poorly with the Christian Right's view of the arts. Artists who came out of L'Abri include Steve Taylor, known for his sharp criticisms of the American Right and promotion of the Christian Alternative music scene.^{[citation needed]} LAbri (from the French word meaning shelter) is an evangelical Christian organization founded by Francis Schaeffer and his wife Edith in Huemoz, Switzerland on June 5, 1955. ... LAbri (from the French word meaning shelter) is an evangelical Christian organization founded by Francis Schaeffer and his wife Edith in Huemoz, Switzerland on June 5, 1955. ... Director Steve Taylor // Roland Stephen Taylor (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and director born in Brawley, California, and reared in Denver, Colorado. ... Plankeye Christian alternative music is a form of alternative rock music lyrically grounded in a Christian worldview. ...

It should also be noted that well before Schaeffer started his work at L'Abri and advocated activism in the public square, many American fundamentalists and evangelicals were already committed to both a social and political form of conservatism. One of the earliest post-World War II texts that urged evangelicals to re-engage American culture was Carl F. H. Henry's The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism (1947). Other writers who contributed to this process included the evangelical sociologist David Moberg's Inasmuch (1965) and The Great Reversal (1972), and the evangelical historian Richard Pierard's The Unequal Yoke: Evangelical Christianity and Political Conservatism (1970). Robert Booth Fowler in his study of the socio-political views of evangelicals between 1966-76 demonstrates quite clearly that a diverse spectrum of attitudes existed before the Moral Majority was organized by Jerry Falwell. Fowler charts the political attitudes of evangelicals, based on their books and periodicals, as ranging from ultra-conservative anti-communists all the way over to progressive and "left-wing" standpoints emerging before the election of Jimmy Carter as President. Moreover, even within evangelical conservative political thought, it was possible to distinguish between moderate and reform-oriented attitudes on church-state issues.^{[citation needed]} To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the use of images on this page may require cleanup, involving adjustment of image placement, formatting, size, or other adjustments. ... Carl F. H. Henry (January 22, 1913 - December 7, 2003) was an evangelical Christian theologian, who founded the magazine Christianity Today as a scholarly voice for evangelical Christianity and as a challenge to the liberal Christian Century. ... The term Moral Majority refers to the concept that there are often informal subgroups within many larger nations that pursue a strict moral agenda, usually based upon a deep belief in a religion, such as Christianity, Islam, or Judaism. ... Jerry Lamon Falwell (born August 11, 1933, Lynchburg, Virginia) is a Fundamentalist Baptist pastor and televangelist from the United States. ... James Earl Jimmy Carter, Jr. ...

A Christian Manifesto

Critics such as Sara Diamond ^[10] and Frederick Clarkson ^[11] have traced the activism of numerous key figures in the Christian Right to the influence of Francis Schaeffer. According to Diamond: "The idea of taking dominion over secular society gained widespread currency with the 1981 publication of...Schaeffer's book A Christian Manifesto. The book sold 290,000 copies in its first year, and it remains one of the movement's most frequently cited texts." Sara Diamond is a leading authority on the Christian Right and other right-wing movements. ...

Diamond summarizes the book and its importance to the movement, which she and Clarkson call Dominionism: Dominionism is a trend in Protestant Christian evangelicalism and fundamentalism, primarily, though not exclusively, in the United States, that seeks to establish specific political policies based on religious beliefs. ...

In A Christian Manifesto, Schaeffer's argument is simple. The United States began as a nation rooted in Biblical principles. But as society became more pluralistic, with each new wave of immigrants, proponents of a new philosophy of secular humanism gradually came to dominate debate on policy issues. Since humanists place human progress, not God, at the center of their considerations, they pushed American culture in all manner of ungodly directions, the most visible results of which included legalized abortion and the secularization of the public schools. At the end of A Christian Manifesto, Schaeffer calls for Christians to use civil disobedience to restore Biblical morality.

The name of the book is intended to position its thesis as a Christian answer to The Communist Manifesto and the Humanist Manifestos of 1933 and 1973. Although A Christian Manifesto does not mention immigration as an issue, critics infer this ^{[citation needed]} from his diagnosis that the decline of Western Civilization is due to society having become increasingly pluralistic, resulting in a shift "away from a world view that was at least vaguely Christian in people's memory ... toward something completely different." The Communist Manifesto (German: ) was first published on February 21, 1848, and is one of the worlds most influential political tracts. ... Humanist Manifesto is the title of three manifestos laying out a humanist worldview published by the American Humanist Association (AHA). ... Pluralism is, in the general sense, the affirmation and acceptance of diversity. ...

In a sermon also titled "A Christian Manifesto", Schaeffer defines secular humanism as the worldview where "man is the measure of all things," and in the book he claims that critics of the Christian Right miss the mark by confusing the "humanist religion" with humanitarianism, the humanities, or love of humans. He describes the conflict with secular humanism as a battle in which "these two religions, Christianity and humanism, stand over against each other as totalities." He writes that the decline of commitment to objective truth that he perceives in the various institutions of society is "not because of a conspiracy, but because the church has forsaken its duty to be the salt of the culture." Finally, he describes Christian civil disobedience: Secular humanism is a humanist philosophy that upholds reason, ethics, and justice and specifically rejects rituals and ceremonies as a means to affirm a life stance. ... It has been suggested that Civil and social disobedience be merged into this article or section. ...

A true Christian in Hitler's Germany and in the occupied countries should have defied the false and counterfeit state and hidden his Jewish neighbors from the German SS Troops. The government had abrogated its authority, and it had no right to make any demands.

Hitler redirects here. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... The infamous double-sig rune SS insignia. ...

Dominionists Against Schaeffer

Sara Diamond also wrote that the theology of Francis Schaeffer at L’Abri was Dominionist. Bruce Barron ^[12] includes the Reconstructionist movement as being one of the major promoters of Dominionism. Leaders of this movement include Gary North and David Chilton, as well as the already mentioned Rushdoony. However, both North and Chilton are highly critical of A Christian Manifesto and Schaeffer. ^[13] They have written among other things that they had to speak out against Schaeffer because of the success of the book. Too many people were reading it (pp.116-17).They also write that Schaeffer supports pluralism because he sees the First Amendment as freedom of religion for all. Pluralism is against what they profess (pp.128-29). They clearly write against the negative statements Schaeffer wrote about theocracy and then why they promote it (pp.121-22). Then to separate themselves from Schaeffer altogether they write:

“The fact remains that Dr. Schaeffer’s manifesto offers no prescriptions for a Christian society. We mention that merely in the interests of clarity, for we are not sure that anybody has noticed it up to now. The same comment applies to all of Dr. Schaeffer’s writings: he does not spell out the Christian alternative.” (pp. 127-28; emphasis North and Chilton)

By “Christian society” and “Christian alternative” they mean Theocracy, Reconstructionism, and what is now called Dominionism, what North and Chilton teach. This is in large part they say because Schaeffer is a premillennialist (p.128) (not a postmillennialist like them). This means that Schaeffer believes that Jesus Christ will establish His own millenial kingdom after He returns instead of Man establishing it for Him before He returns. This article specifically relates to Premillennialism in Christian eschatology; for political millenarianism and other uses of the word see Millenarianism Premillennialism in Christian eschatology is the interpretation of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation in the Bible which sees Christs second coming as occurring before or pre- his... In Christian eschatology, postmillennialism is an interpretation of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation which sees Christs second coming as occurring after or post- the thousand year millennium. Although some postmillennialists hold to a literal millennium of 1,000 years, most postmillennialists see the thousand years more as...

Frank Schaeffer

Francis Schaeffer's son, Frank Schaeffer, became a Hollywood film director and successful author, writing several internationally acclaimed novels depicting life in a strict, fundamentalist household including Portofino, Zermatt, and Saving Grandma. He is most recently the author of Baby Jack, a novel about a Marine killed in Iraq. He is also known for his best selling non-fiction books related to the United States Marine Corps, including Keeping Faith--A Father-Son Story About Love and the United States Marine Corps, co-written with his son John Schaeffer, and AWOL--The Unexcused Absence Of America's Upper Classes From Military Service and How It Hurts Our Country, co-authored with former Clinton presidential aid, Kathy Roth-Douquet. Frank Schaeffer has distanced himself from many of his father's views and has converted to the Greek Orthodox church in 1990 which he says "embraces paradox and mystery." ^[14] Greek Orthodox Church can refer to any of several hierarchical churches within the larger group of mutually recognizing Eastern Orthodox churches: the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, headed by the Patriarch of Constantinople, who is also the first among equals of the Eastern Orthodox Communion. ... The Eastern Orthodox Church is a Christian body that encompasses national jurisdictions such as the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodoxand other Churches (see Eastern Orthodox Church organization). ...

Writings

Francis A. Schaeffer wrote twenty-two books, which cover a range of spiritual issues. They can be roughly split into five sections, as in the edition of his Complete Works (ISBN 0-89107-347-7):

• A Christian View of Philosophy and Culture: The first three books in this block are known as Schaeffer's trilogy, laying down the philosophical and theological foundation for all his work.
  • The God Who Is There: Deals with the existence and relevance of God, and how modern man came to first distance himself from, and ultimately disbelieve, God as revealed by the Bible.
  • Escape from Reason: How the rejection of the Biblical God causes man to lose contact with reality and reason.
  • He Is There and He Is Not Silent: How God speaks to man through the Bible on the three philosophically fundamental areas of metaphysics, morals, and epistemology.
  • Back to Freedom and Dignity: An answer to B.F. Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, arguing that freedom and dignity of man are God-given and therefore can't be left aside without dire consequences.
• A Christian View of the Bible as Truth
  • Genesis in Space and Time: Argues that an almost literalist view of Genesis as historically true is fundamental to the Christian faith.
  • No Final Conflict
  • Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History
  • Basic Bible Studies: Biblical studies on the fundamentals of the faith.
  • Art and the Bible
• A Christian View of Spirituality
  • No Little People: Argues that Christians should never despair of having a significant life of realisations, small as they seem to be.
  • True Spirituality: The spiritual foundation for Schaeffer's work, as a complement to the theological and philosophical approach of most other books. Useful for gaining a balanced view of the whole of Schaeffer's life and ministry.
  • The New Super-Spirituality: Claims the intellectual decadence of students and the counter-culture from the late sixties to the early seventies can be traced back to the conformism of their fathers, only with fewer moral absolutes, and predicts the contamination of the church. Offers an analysis of Postmodernism.
  • Two Contents, Two Realities
• A Christian View of the Church
  • The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century
  • The Church before the Watching World
  • The Mark of the Christian: Analyses the balance between the holiness of God and the love of God in the spiritual life of the Bible-believing Christian.
  • Death in the City
  • The Great Evangelical Disaster
• A Christian View of the West
  • Pollution and the Death of Man. A Christian response to issues concerning ecology.
  • How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture. This is also a film/video series produced and directed by his son Frank Schaeffer.
  • Whatever Happened to the Human Race? (with former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop). A Christian response to abortion, euthanasia, and infanticide. This is also a film/video series produced and directed by his son Frank Schaeffer.
  • A Christian Manifesto: Christian principles for secular politics.

In addition to his books, one of the last public lectures Schaeffer delivered was at the Law Faculty, University of Strasbourg. It was published as "Christian Faith and Human Rights", The Simon Greenleaf Law Review, 2 (1982-83) pp. 3-12. Escape from Reason is a philosophical work published in 1968 by Francis Schaeffer, the second book of the Francis Schaeffer Trilogy. ... He Is There and He Is Not Silent is a philosophical work by presuppositionalist Francis Schaeffer, published in 1972. ... Plato and Aristotle, by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome). ... Morality is a complex of principles based on cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts and beliefs, by which an individual determines whether his or her actions are right or wrong. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Knowledge. ... Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 _ August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist and author. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Ernst Haeckel coined the term oekologie in 1866. ... C. Everett Koop Charles Everett Koop, M.D. (born October 14, 1916) was the Surgeon General of the United States from 1982 to 1989, under Ronald Reagans presidency. ... Euthanasia (from Greek: ευθανασία -ευ good, θανατος death) is the practice of ending the life of an individual or an animal who is suffering from a terminal disease or a chronically painful condition in a painless or minimally painful way either by lethal injection, drug overdose, or by the withdrawal of medical support. ... In sociology and biology, infanticide is the practice of intentionally causing the death of an infant of a given species, by members of the same species. ...

In addition to the five volume Complete Works listed above there were also two books by Dr. Schaeffer published after his death:

• Dennis, Lane T. (ed) Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer, Crossway Books, Westchester, 1985.
• Schaeffer, Francis A. The Finished Work of Christ: The Truth of Romans 1-8, Crossway Books, Wheaton, 1998.

Critical Assessments

• Boa, Kenneth D., and Robert M. Bowman, Faith Has Its Reasons: An Integrative Approach to Defending Christianity, NAV Press, Colorado Springs, 2001.
• Burson, Scott R. and Jerry L. Walls. C.S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer: Lessons for a New Century from the Most Influential Apologists of Our Time. Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 1998.
• Coward, Harold., Pluralism: The Challenge to World Religions, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, 1986.
• Cunningham, Stuart, "Towards A Critique of Francis Schaeffer's Thought", Interchange, 24 (1978) pp. 205-221.
• Dennis, Lane T. (ed) Francis A. Schaeffer: Portraits of the Man and His Work, Crossway Books, Westchester, 1986.
• Fowler, Robert Booth, A New Engagement: Evangelical Political Thought 1966-1976, William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1982.
• Hexham, Irving, "The Evangelical Response to the New Age," in Perspectives on the New Age, edited by James R. Lewis & J. Gordon Melton, State University of New York Press, Albany, New York, 1992, pp. 152-163.
• Morris, Thomas V., Francis Schaeffer's Apologetics: A Critique, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1987.
• Parkhurst, Louis Gifford, Francis Schaeffer: The Man and His Message, Tyndale House, Wheaton, 1985.
• Ramsey, George W., The Quest for the Historical Israel, SCM Press, London, 1982, pp. 107-115.
• Roper, D. L., "A Sympathetic Criticism of Francis Schaeffer's Writings," Interchange, 41 (1987) pp. 41-55.
• Ruegsegger, Ronald W. (ed) Reflections on Francis Schaeffer, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1986.
• Stadler, G. Thomas, "Renaissance Humanism: Francis Schaeffer Versus Some Contemporary Scholars," Fides et Historia 2 (June 1989)pp. 4-20.

Notes

References

• Clarkson, Frederick (1994). "Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence". The Public Eye Magazine VIII (1 & 2).
• Diamond, Sara (1994). "Dominion Theology: The Truth About the Christian Right's Bid for Power," Z Magazine (column) February 1995. Online: here.
• LaHaye, Tim (1980). The Battle for the Mind. Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell.
• Schaeffer, Francis (1982). "A Christian Manifesto." Retrieved June 24, 2005.
• Schaeffer, Francis (1982). A Christian Manifesto (revised edition). Crossway Books. ISBN 0-89107-233-0
• Barron, Bruce. Heaven on Earth? The Social & Political Agendas of Dominion Theology. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1992.
• Gary North and David Chilton. "Apologetics and Strategy," in Tactics of Christian Resistance: A Symposium, Gary North Ed. Tyler Texas: Geneva Divinity School, 1983, pp.100-140.

External links

• L'Abri Fellowship International
• The Francis A. Schaeffer Foundation
• Schaeffer's Papers at the PCA Historical Center
• The Francis Schaeffer Institute at Covenant Seminary
• The Shelter, a site dedicated to the thought and writings of Schaeffer
• Official Frank Schaeffer website, writer, film director, and son of Francis Schaeffer
• Frank Schaeffer entry at Orthodoxwiki.org
• Francis Schaeffer:The Early Years- Free online class from Covenant Seminary
• Francis Schaeffer:The Later Years- Free online class from Covenant Seminary